It’s a disaster There’s a saying in Kinyarwanda, “Ntushyire amavuta y’inka hafi yumuriro.” That is to say; don’t put butter so close to the fire or else it will melt. Also, put a boy and a girl in one room and within a few days, they will be having nonstop sex. At least that is what human nature teaches about the sex-drive. Just inside recent history, the situation of two opposite sexes renting a house or room together wasn’t such an issue to talk about. Almost everybody knew that unless someone is a fiancé, or a relative, a man would have no business sharing a room with a woman. Now, choosing the right roommate is one hectic issue that people meet with. More and more people find it inevitable to get out of their parents’ home as soon as they are done with school, to start their own life. However, because of economic constraints, they are forced to share costs, especially rent. While some are looking for friends of the same sex to rent with, some people make this wild mistake by renting with opposite sexes. Driven by an adventurous mood or an incorrect belief in self control, a young woman ends up renting with a guy, simply because they sat down in a restaurant and decided that they are both mature enough to simply share rent and nothing else. Barely a week into rent, they have glanced at each other, talked and shared much more than rent. The boy keeps accidentally finding the girl from the showers rapped in her towel, soon, the girl is crying on his shoulders for some bad day at work and all of a sudden, their lips are locked. Nine months down the road, the first born is out. Wait! Did I say “all of a sudden…”? No way! This wasn’t sudden, as a matter of fact, they saw it coming. Their move is the most predictable thing after those Latin America Telenovellas. Who doesn’t know that proximity builds intimacy? Now where is the self control they were talking about in the restaurant? There are things we just can’t fight, but can prevent. A woman’s body, as all men will testify, was designed by God in a way that makes it so precious to men. Just a small glimpse of a naked woman will raise a man’s adrenaline and testosterone levels in ways only biology teachers understand. Don’t get me wrong; men and women have cohabited from time memorial without any issues, and sure now they can leave in societies and families together. But when it comes to decisions about renting, one thing they have never forgotten is that prevention is better than cure. People, who think that they can actually handle renting with an opposite sex, are simply putting themselves under unnecessary temptations. It’s not like they have failed to get people of the same sex to rent with, they are just working on some experiment which is definitely bound to fail. It is like locking a cat and a mouse in a little cage and assume that the mouse won’t be feasted on at some point. mugishaivan@yahoo.com
